Bach’s Cantata 131 may have been his first ever, composed at Mühlhausen in 1707 or 1708. We can hear in it the youthful composer remaining true to his German roots, but stretching his wings, experimenting with an episodic, through-composed structure, and succeeding brilliantly. The experiment, however, was short-lived. By the time Bach moved to Weimar in 1714, he was settling on a new format, which he would refine and perfect in later years: a succession of individual movements, usually including an elaborate choral number, a group of solo pieces, and an unadorned setting of the relevant chorale. A heightened awareness of international trends surfaced in French overtures and Italianate recitatives and da capo arias. Cantata 182 was Bach’s first for Weimar.

Both of these early cantatas on this disc are likely candidates for chamber-sized performances, but they are sung here by a chorus of about 50 singers. Thomas Gropper’s temperate direction serves the music well. The choral singing is nicely burnished and admirably precise. The first chorus of No. 182 seemed to lose a bit of its forward momentum, but order is quickly restored and the cantata (and the disc) ends well. The soloists are similarly effective. One can get a vague sense of meandering in the bass aria of BWV 182, but the overall impression is positive. The featured (but unnamed) wind soloists—the oboe in No. 131 and the recorder in No. 182—are especially fine, more reasons to give the disc your consideration. In all, an excellent 131; a good 182.

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